George-Enescu-Festival I

Vladimir Jurowski has been Chief Conductor and Artistic Director of the Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin since 2017. He has meanwhile extended his contract until 2027. In parallel, he has been General Music Director of the Bavarian State Opera in Munich since 2021.

After receiving training at the Moscow Conservatory The conductor, pianist and musicologist Vladimir Jurowski emigrated to Germany in 1990. Here he continued his studies at the music conservatories in Dresden and Berlin.  In 1995 he made his international debut at the British Wexford Festival with Rimski-Korsakov’s Mainacht and in the same year at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden with Nabucco. Subsequently he was, among other things, First Kapellmeister of the Komische Oper Berlin (1997- 2001) and Music Director of the Glyndebourne Festival Opera (2001-2013). In 2003 Vladimir Jurowski was appointed Principal Guest Conductor of the London Philharmonic Orchestra and has been its Principal Conductor since 2007 until 2021. He was also Artistic Director of the State Academic Symphony Orchestra Yevgeny Svetlanov of the Russian Federation until 2021, Artistic Director of the International George Enescu Festival in Bucharest and Principal Artist of the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment in Great Britain. He works regularly with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe and the ensemble unitedberlin.

Vladimir Jurowski has conducted the major orchestras of Europe and North America, including the Berlin, Vienna and New York Philharmonic Orchestras, the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra Amsterdam, the Cleveland and Philadelphia Orchestras, the Boston and Chicago Symphony Orchestras, the Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich, the Staatskapelle Dresden and the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra.

He is a recurring guest conductor in in London, Berlin, Dresden, Luzern, Schleswig-Holstein und Grafenegg as well as at the Rostopowitsch-Festival. Although Vladimir Jurowski is invited as a guest conductor by top orchestras from all over the world, in future he would like to concentrate his activities on that geographical area which is acceptable to him from an ecological point of view.

The German singer Torsten Kerl is one of the most sought-after Heldentenors in the world. In the 2018/2019 season opera projects lead him to the Théâtre du Capitole in Toulouse as Paul in “Die tote Stadt”, as Tannhäuser to the New National Theatre Tokyo and as Rienzi to the Deutsche Oper Berlin. In concert he sang Siegmund with the Antwerp Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Edo de Waart.

In the season 2017/18 he performed as Max in “Der Freischütz”  at the New National Theatre in Tokyo and at the Semperoper Dresden. Furthermore he sang the leading role in Wagners Siegfried and Götterdämmerung in Odense as well as at the Staatstheater Karlsruhe. At the Enescu Festival he sang Albrecht von Brandenburg in Hindemith’s “Mathis der Maler” under the baton of Lawrence Foster. As a concert singer he sang Mahler’s “Lied von der Erde” in Berlin and Breslau, Waldemar in Schönberg’s “Gurrelieder” in Aarhus and Berlin and in Beethoven’s 9th Symphony in several renowned European concert halls.

Torsten Kerl has a wide repertoire. Therefore he is one of the few tenors who are regularly interpreting all the big Wagner parts like Erik, Parsifal, Lohengrin, Tannhäuser, Loge, Siegmund, Tristan, Rienzi and both Siegfrieds. Furthermore he was repeatedly seen as Max (Der Freischütz), Paul (Die tote Stadt), Florestan (Fidelio), Pedro (Tiefland), Bacchus (Ariadne auf Naxos) and Kaiser (Die Frau ohne Schatten). Other important roles are Don José (Carmen), Samson (Samson et Dalila), Äneas (Les Troyens), Grigori (Boris Godunow), Egyptian Pharaoh (Moses), Herrmann (Pique Dame), Otello (Otello) and Dick Johnson (La Fanciulla del West).

He has also been seen on the most important stages in the world, including, among others, the Wiener Staatsoper, Metropolitan Opera New York, Deutsche Oper Berlin, San Francisco Opera, Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Semperoper Dresden, Scala di Milano, New National Theatre Tokyo, Nederlandse Opera Amsterdam, Bayerische Staatsoper Munich, Gran Teatro del Liceo Barcelona,  Palau de les Arts Valencia, Opéra National de Paris (Bastille), Châtelet Paris, Opéra du Lyon, Staatsoper Hamburg, Teatro Carlo Felice Genova, Den Norske Opera Oslo, Opera de Munt Brussels and the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino. Torsten Kerl is a permanent guest at international Opera Festivals like the Bayreuther Festspiele (Der fliegende Holländer, Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg), the Salzburger Festspiele (Mozart-Requiem, Die Liebe der Danae and Die tote Stadt), the Edinburgh Festival, the Glyndebourne Festival and the Opera Festival in Savonlinna in Finland. In 2000 he won the Grammy Award for the best international recording of the year.

Beyond that Kerl is regularly working with the most important orchestras in the world: the Wiener Philharmoniker, London Philharmonic Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra, Berliner Philharmoniker, Amsterdam Cocertgebouw Orchestra, Orchestre de Radio France, Dresdner Staatskapelle and the Accademia di Santa Cecilia di Roma.

Anne Schwanewilms is recognised as one of the leading interpreters of the works of Richard Strauss. Her extensive repertoire covers roles such as Arabella, Ariadne („Ariadne auf Naxos“), Chrysothemis („Elektra“), Feldmarschallin („Der Rosenkavalier“), Empress („Die Frau ohne Schatten,  Danae („Die Liebe der Danae“), Elsa („Lohengrin“), Elisabeth („Tannhäuser“), Desdemona („Otello“), Marie („Wozzeck“) and Madame Lidoine („Dialogues des Carmélites“). She has appeared at many of the major opera houses of the world including Munich, Dresden, Hamburg, Frankfurt, Amsterdam, Vienna, Madrid, Barcelona, Milan, New York and Tokyo. At the Semperoper Dresden, Anne Schwanewilms enjoyed a great success as Arabella and Chrysothemis under the musical direction of Christian Thielemann, roles which she reprised at the Vienna National Opera under the baton of Ulf Schirmer and Franz Welser-Möst. Anne Schwanewilms is a regular at the Bayreuth and the Salzburg Festivals, where her performances as Carlotta in „Die Gezeichneten“ by Franz Schreker and as the Empress in Richard Strauss’ „Die Frau ohne Schatten“ were particularly significant. Engagements in 2017 included Marschallin („Der Rosenkavalier“) in Munich, Elisabeth („Tannhäuser“) at the Staatsoper Unter den Linden in Berlin and Eva in the new production of „Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg“ at the Bayreuth Festival in 2017. In 2019 she sang the role of Isabella in the new production of Krenek’s „Karl V“ (director: Carlus Padrissa – La Fura dels Baus) at the Bavarian State Opera in Munich, Leonore at the Vienna State Opera and Empress in a concert performance of „Die Frau ohne Schatten“ at the Berlin Philharmonie. She also had a great success with a recital at the Elbphilharmonie Hamburg. In 2020 she sang at the Semper opera house Dresden the title role in a new production of Jacques Offenbach’s „Die Großherzogin von Gerolstein“.

Anne Schwanewilms appears regularly with conductors such as Christian Thielemann, Sir Simon Rattle, Daniel Barenboim, Franz Welser-Möst, Kent Nagano, Stefan Soltesz, Vladimir Jurowski, Christoph von Dohnanyi, Simone Young, Christoph Eschenbach and Riccardo Chailly. Her prolific concert career takes her to the foremost halls of Europe and she appears with the Berliner Philharmoniker, the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, the Concertgebouw Amsterdam, the London Symphony Orchestra, the London Philharmonic Orchestra and the Orchestre National de France.

One of the leading exponents of Lied, Anne Schwanewilms has appeared in recital at the Wigmore Hall London, at the Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, at the Concertgebouw Amsterdam, at the Lincoln Center New York and at the Edinburgh Festival.

She is a member of the jury of the international Louis Spohr-Competition and leads masterclasses. A British music critic described her as a ‘veritable sound painter’. Accompanied by Malcolm Martineau, Charles Spencer and Roger Vignoles, Anne Schwanewilms has set artistic standards with her interpretations of songs by Schumann, Wolff, Wagner, Liszt, Mahler, Strauss and Schönberg. Music critics praise her unfailing sense of the subtlest details of phrasing, lustre and suppleness of voice and great technical expertise. „Recitals are my staging“, Anne Schwanewilms said once in an interview. „Here I can create something from the beginning with very simple means – the voice and the piano.“

Anne Schwanewilms has a comprehensive discography. Her opera recordings include DVDs of „Die Gezeichneten“ (Salzburg Festival, Kent Nagano, DSO, 2005), „Die Frau ohne Schatten“ (Salzburg Festival, Christian Thielemenn, Vienna Philharmonic), „Der Rosenkavalier“ (Fabio Luisi, Sächsische Staatskapelle Dresden, 2007) and „Dialogues des Carmélites“ (Simone Young, Hamburg State Opera, 2008). In addition, she has presented a Richard Strauss CD („Vier letzte Lieder“ and excerpts from „Der Rosenkavalier“, „Capriccio“ and „Arabella“, Markus Stenz, Cologne Gürzenich Orchestra), a Richard Wagner CD with „Tristan and Isolde“, „Tannhäuser“ and the „Wesendonck-Lieder“ (Cornelius Meister, RSO Vienna) as well as several recital discs including works by Liszt, Mahler, Schumann, Wolff, and Schönberg. In May 2016 her CD „Schöne Welt…“ with Lieder by Schubert, Schreker and Korngold has been released.

A recipient of many awards, she was „Singer of the year“ in 2002. In 2014 she received a GRAMMY Award nomination for her CD recording of Richard Strauss’ „Elektra“ with Christian Thielemann. Her recording of „Wozzeck“ with Hans Graf and the Houston Symphony Orchestra received the ECHO Klassik Award 2017 and the GRAMMY Award 2018 in the category „best opera recording“. In 2019 the DVD “Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg” from the Bayreuth Festival with Anne Schwanewilms as Eva received an OPUS Klassik.

Karolina Gumos is engaged as a house soloist at the Komische Oper Berlin. Her parts here include Octavian in Strauss´s “Der Rosenkavalier” and the title role Prince Charmant in „ Cendrillon“ by Massenet,  Idamante in „Idomeneo“, Polina in “Pique Dame”,  Prinz Orlofsky in “The Fledermaus”,  Rosina in “The Barber of Seville” and Dorabella in Mozarts “Cosi fan tutte”.

The mezzosoprano Karolina Gumos was born in Gdynia (Poland). She studied the violin before turning to singing. After successfully completing her Recital Diploma at the Poznan Music College with Professor Wojciech Maciejowski she decided to continue advanced studies as a mezzo-soprano with Professor Anneliese Fried at the Hanns Eisler music college in Berlin.

She performed frequently in oratoros by Bach, Händel, Mozart and Pergolesi. Karolina Gumos attended masterclasses and took part in numerous radio and television broadcasts with ARTE and the ZDF in Germany and Polish Radio 1. She has been invited to festivals such as “Ruhrtriennale” in Duisburg and Bochum, „Händel-Festspiele“ in Karlsruhe, “Vratislavia Cantans” in Wroclaw, Schloss Rheinsberg Chamber Opera Festival and the Lutoslawski Festival.

She has been a prizewinner in the international Ada Sari Singing Competition.

Karolina Gumos was engaged as a house soloist at the Dortmund Opera by the director of opera, Christine Mielitz. Here she was singing such roles as Zerlina (Don Giovanni), Annina (Rosenkavalier), Fenena (Nabucco), Cherubino (Figaro), Olga (Eugen Onegin), Suzuki (Madame Butterfly) and Dorabella (Cosi fan Tutte).

She was also engaged as a house soloist at the State Theater Braunschweig. Here she sang roles such as Nicklausse / La Muse (Contes d´ Hoffmann), Ottavia (L´incorinazione di Poppea), Sextus (La Clemenza di Tito) and the title role in the first performance in Germany of Philippe Boesmans´”Julie”.

She has performed with famous conductors (such as Reinhard Schwarz, Peter Schneider, Peter Gülke, Wladimir Jurowski, Friedermann Layer, Sebastian Weigle, Stefan Soltesz, Michael Boder, Michael Hofstetter, Ion Marin, Pedro Halffter, Alexander Vedernikov, Marcus Bosch, Jörg Peter Weigle, Eugeniusz Kus and Arthur Fagen) and she has also worked with opera producers as Willy Decker, Stefan Herheim, Heiner Goebbels, Hans Neuenfels, Barrie Kosky, Damiano Micheletto, Marco Arturo Marelli, Christine Mielitz, Udo Samel, Beverly Blankenship, Lucas Kindermann, Uwe Schwarz and Sebastian Baumgarten. She has guest contracts with the Teatro de la Maestranza in Sevilla, the Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona, the Semperoper Dresden, the Hamburg State Opera , the Deutsche Oper Berlin, the Opernhaus Frankfurt am Main, the BESETO Opera Seoul,  and has given concerts in Spain, Poland, Germany, Italy, Switzerland, Latvia, Belgium, Norway and Korea.

The German soprano Ricarda Merbeth is one of the leading singers in her field. Audiences and critics alike regard her as one of the most outstanding interpreters of Wagner and Strauss of our time.

She made her debut as Marzelline in Fidelio at the Vienna State Opera House in 1999, and remained there as a member of the ensemble until 2005. Her roles at the Vienna State Opera House have included Contessa, Donna Anna, Pamina, Fiordiligi, Chrysothemis, Elisabeth, Eva, Irene, Elsa, Marschallin and Sieglinde. Her Daphne in a new production of Richard Strauss’s eponymous opera at the Vienna State Opera House in 2004 was a special highlight of Ricarda’s career to date, and it was this title role that cemented her breakthrough as an international singer. She was appointed as an Austrian Kammersängerin by the Vienna State Opera House in 2010. Regular engagements as a guest singer have maintained her strong relationship with the Vienna State Opera House to this day. Bayreuth Festival has been the venue for a number of other key milestones in her career, for example the roles of Freia and Gutrune in Jürgen Flimm’s production of the Ring Cycle in 2001, Elisabeth in Tannhäuser in 2002‐2005 and 2007 and Senta in the current production of The Flying Dutchman from 2013 to 2018.

Ricarda Merbeth has been singing on a freelance basis since 2006 in many leading opera houses:  the Hamburg State Opera, Bavarian State Opera (Munich), La Scala (Milan), Deutsche Oper (Berlin), New National Theatre (Tokyo), Opéra National de Paris, Teatro Real (Madrid), Opera Amsterdam, Toulouse, Marseille, Barcelona, Helsinki, Stockholm, Zurich, Sydney, Vienna (including the Musikverein) and New York. Here she is singing important roles as Helen (The Egyptian Helen), Sieglinde (The Valkyrie), the title role in Ariadne on Naxos, Marietta (The Dead City), Marschallin (The Knight of the Rose), Senta (The Flying Dutchman), Leonore (Fidelio), Emilia Marty (The Makropulos Affair), Elsa (Lohengrin), Marie (Wozzeck), Isolde (Tristan & Isolde), Goneril (Lear), Chrysothemis (Elektra), Elisabeth and Venus (Tannhäuser) and Brünnhilde (Siegfried / Valkyrie / The twilight of gods). Ricarda Merbeth has worked with an array of renowned conductors such as Pierre Boulez, Semyon Bychkov, Riccardo Chailly, Myung-whun Chung, Daniele Gatti, Marek Janowski, Mariss Jansons, Philippe Jordan, Fabio Luisi, Ingo Metzmacher, Kent Nagano, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Seiji Ozawa, Donald Runnicles, Pinchas Steinberg, Christian Thielemann, Constantin Trinks.

Current and future engagements up to and including 2019 include Brünnhilde (Siegfried) and the Marschallin (The Knight of the Rose) in Tokyo, Isolde in Turin and Amsterdam, Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No. 8 in Copenhagen, Leonore (Fidelio) at the Vienna State Opera House, the title roles in Elektra and The Egyptian Helen at La Scala in Milan and the title role in Turandot at the Deutsche Oper in Berlin.

Tom Erik Lie was born in Oslo and studied singing from 1986 to 1991 at the Conservatory and in the State Opera Academy in Oslo. In 1991 his first engagement led him to Düsseldorf. From 1993 to 1998 Tom Erik Lie was engaged in Gelsenkirchen. In the role of Wolfram in “Tannhäuser” he was nominated in 1996 by the magazine “Opernwelt” as “promising artist of the year”. In 1995 he received the Ingrid Bjoner Scholarship for young Singers.

Guest engagements followed in Hannover, Essen, Nürnberg, Bonn, Leipzig and Dresden. From 1998 to 2001 Tom Erik Lie was a member of the ensemble at the opera in Leipzig. Here he sang Frère Léon in the German première of Messiaens “Saint François d’Assise”, Guglielmo, Papageno, Siegfried in Schumann´s “Genoveva” and Wolfram in “Tannhäuser”, a part which he also sang at the Royal Opera Copenhagen. As Don Giovanni and Robert Storch (in “Intermezzo” by R. Strauss) he celebrated great successes in Garsington Opera Festival. From 2001 to 2004 he was engaged at the Deutsche Oper Berlin, where he sang Papageno, Wolfram, Sharpless, Albert, Schaunard and Frère Léon. In the Komische Oper Berlin he had his debut in 2003 as Edwin in “Die Csárdásfürstin”. Since 2004 he is a member of the ensemble there, and sings Marcello in “La Bohème”, Count Almaviva in “The marriage of Figaro”, the title parts in “Eugene Onegin” and “Don Giovanni”, Sharpless in “Madama Butterfly”, Papageno in “The Magic Flute”, Gabriel von Eisenstein in “Die Fledermaus”, Prince Jeletzky in “Pique Dame”, Horatio in Christian Jost’ “Hamlet” (world premiere) and Beckmesser in “Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg”. He also had great success as Germont in “La Traviata”.

In May 2010 Tom Erik Lie sang the part of Phileas Fogg in Oslo in the premiere of “In 80 Days around the World” by Gisle Kverndokk.

Tom Erik Lie has sung numerous concerts in Europe, Asia and the USA with conductors including Kirill Petrenko, Christian Thieleman, Sir André Previn, Michael Jurowsky, Marcello Viotti, Paolo Carignani, Friedeman Layer, Jiri Kout, Peter Schneider and Mark Albrecht, and worked with directors including Peter Konwitschny, Hans Neuenfels, Calisto Bieto, Christof Loy, Kasper Holten and Andreas Homoki.

Christian Oldenburg studied opera singing and dancing, and worked with Renate Faltin, Scot Weir, Julia Varady, and Wolfram Rieger at the Hanns Eisler University Berlin. He attended master classes given by Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Neil Semer, Elio Battaglia, Lucio Gallo, Snezana Brzakovic, Peter Konwitschny, and Willy Decker.

His operatic repertoire comprises roles such as Hans Scholl in Udo Zimmermann’s „Die Weisse Rose“, Papageno in „Die Zauberflöte“ , Albert in „Massenet’s Werther” , Eduard in Hindemith’s „Neues vom Tage“ , and Falke in „Die Fledermaus“ (Theater Lüneburg), Donner in „Der Ring an einem Abend“ production directed by Philippe Arlaud for Bayreuth, Gilberto in Donizetti´s „Enrico di Borgogna“ (Vadstena Summer Opera Festival, Sweden), the title part in Ristori’s Calandro at the Music Festival Potsdam/Sanssouci within the Young Baroque Opera Project under the baton of Olof Bomann, his debut as Don Giovanni at the Wernigeröder Schlossfestspiele, Germany, Haushofmeister in Strauss’ „Capriccio“ (Opéra de Lyon), Boris in „Moskau Tscherjomuschki“, „Hans im Glück“ , Kilian in „Der Freischütz“ , Mittlerer Bruder/König in „Der gestiefelte Kater“ , and Un servo in „Luci mie traditrici“ (all at Staatsoper Berlin).

He has collaborated with orchestras such as Staatsorchester Braunschweig, Staatsorchester Frankfurt/Oder, Staatskapelle Berlin, Dresdner Philharmonie, Südwestdeutsche Philharmonie, and Hamburger Symphoniker.

Recent engagements include Spinelloccio/Amatio di Nicolao in „Gianni Schicchi“ for Szczecin Opera, Finocchio in the world premiere of Sciarrino’s „Ti vedo, ti sento, mi perdo“ with Teatro alla Scala and Staatsoper Berlin, „Carmina Burana“ with Collegium Musicum Symphony Orchestra, Haushofmeister in Strauss’ „Capriccio“ for La Monnaie Brussels, and the title part in „Hans im Glück“ at Staatsoper Berlin.

Current season comprises Wächter der Stadt in „Die Frau ohne Schatten“ with  the RSB, Josef K. in Glass’ „The Trial“, Mercutio in „Roméo et Juliette“ , and Spinelloccio in „Gianni Schicchi“ for Szczecin Opera among others.

Artyom studied first at the University of Architecture before joining the Shatalov College of Music in Samara. From 2016 he studied at the Hanns Eisler School of Music in Berlin with Mikhail Lanskoi.

Various roles such as Geronte Manon Lescaut, Surin Pique Dame, Lodovico Otello, Fasolt Das Rheingold, Pistola Falstaff, Titurel Parsifal, The Bonzo Madama Butterfly, Fifth Jew Salome, Le Duc Roméo et Juliette*, Don Basilio Il Barbiere, Osmin (reduced version for children) Die Entführung aus dem Serail* all at Wiener Staatsoper, Eremit Der Freischütz at Landesbühnen Sachsen, Volkstheater Rostock, Sparafucile Rigoletto at Staatstheater Schwerin, Gremin Eugene Onegin at Volkstheater Rostock, Der Einarmige Die Frau ohne Schatten (in concert) with the Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin at Berliner Philharmonie and Enescu Festival in Bucharest are among his recent engagements.

His upcoming engagements inclued Colas Bastien und Bastienne at Oper im Steinbruch St. Margarethen, Samuel Un Ballo in Maschera at Stadttheater Klagenfurt, Patsyuk Christmas Eve with Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin at Berliner Philharmonie, as well as engagements for Royal Danish Opera Copenhagen, Theater Dortmund and Basel.

With a voice that is warm, wide-ranging and dark-hued, and commanding a repertoire that extends from the baroque to the present day, German-born soprano Sophie Klussman is in demand as a concert singer, as a recitalist and on the opera stage.

In recent seasons her engagements have included a world tour of Mozart concert arias with Martin Haselböck and the Wiener Akademie, and performances and recordings of 20th century music with the Berlin’s Scharoun Ensemble, the pianist Oliver Triendl and a variety of other partners. Over her career to date she has collaborated with such conductors as Marek Janowski, Ingo Metzmacher, Helmuth Rilling, Michael Gielen, Michael Sanderling, Karl Heinz Steffens and, in the field of historically informed performance, Marcus Creed, Václav Luks and Attilio Cremonesi. Her career has taken her to such venues as the Berlin Philharmonie, Vienna Musikverein, Zurich Tonhalle, Amsterdam Muziekgebouw, Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris, New York City Center and the Concert Hall of the National Grand Theatre Beijing.

Sophie Klussmann numbers Thomas Quasthoff, Dunja Vejzovic, Margreet Honig and Klesie Kelly-Moog among her mentors. From 2009 to 2011 she was a member of the Halle Opera, singing a variety of soprano role, and in Halle and at the Komische Oper Berlin she gave the world premieres of two operas by the composer Christian Jost. In 2013, at the Baden-Baden Easter Festival, she covered Anna Netrebko in the role of Donna Anna, while 2016 brought her debut as Micaëla (Carmen) in Wuhan, China. She also enjoyed a long-term international collaboration with American actor John Malkovich on the theatre pieces The Giacomo Variations and The Infernal Comedy.

Sophie Klussmann is a keen interpreter of song and chamber repertoire and in 2015 her first solo CD, devoted to songs by Karl Weigl, was released on the Capriccio label.

Hamburg-born mezzo-soprano Verena Usemann performed a great variety of the lyrical mezzo repertoire as an ensemble-member of the Landestheater Coburg 2010-2017.  She appeared as Rosina (Der Barbier von Sevilla), Varvára (Káťa Kabanová), Romeo (I Capuleti e i Montecchi), Olga (Yevgény Onégin) as well as in the leading role of Handel’s Rinaldo.

During the 2013/2014 season Verena was nominated for “Nachwuchssängerin des Jahres” (young artist of the year) by Opernwelt for her performances of Mélisande (Pelléas et Mélisande) and Orpheus (Orfeo ed Euridice).

Following maternity leave, she returned to the stage in 2016 as Octavian (Der Rosenkavalier), Dido (Dido and Aeneas) and was critically acclaimed for her interpretations of Cherubino (Le Nozze di Figaro ) and The Raven by Toshio Hosokawa (German premier).

From 2008-2010 Usemann was engaged at the Theater für Niedersachsen (Hildesheim) where she started building up her repertoire with Frau Reich (Die Lustigen Weiber von Windsor), Mercedes (Carmen), Zaida (Il Turco in Italia), Cherubino (Le Nozze di Figaro), Prinz Orlowsky (Die Fledermaus), Hänsel (Hänsel und Gretel) and Magdalene (Die Meistersinger).

Usemann also appeared as Hänsel with the Qatar Philharmonic Orchestra in Doha and as Dorabella (Cosí fan tutte) at the Opernfestival Gut Immling.

The young mezzo-soprano takes special interest in contemporary music. In December 2018, she jumped in a Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin production at the Konzerthaus Berlin under the baton of Vladimir Jurowski singing the mezzo part of John Adams´ “El Niño“.

She has performed with the LINOS-Ensemble, the ensemble risonanze erranti as well as with the Kammerensemble für Neue Musik Berlin and made her debut  with the NDR symphony orchestra in „Moses and Aron“ (A. Schönberg) 2017 at the Elbphilharmonie Hamburg.

Verena Usemann studied in Leipzig (Regina Werner-Dietrich), Vienna (Claudia Visca) and Berlin (Prof. Robert Gambill) and graduated summa cum laude. The foundations of her musical education were years of training in cello and piano as well as her membership of the children’s choir at the Staatsoper Hamburg.

Since 2018 she has been working freelance and is based in Berlin.

Alice Lackner’s voice has been described by the press as “beguilingly secure, with astral heights and penetrating power” (Oper!) and as “utterly enchanting” (Tagesspiegel). She regularly appears with orchestras such as the Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin, Konzerthausorchester Berlin, Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, Essener Philharmoniker, Russian State Orchestra Kaliningrad, Brandenburgisches Staatsorchester, lautten compagney Berlin, Ensemble 1700 and Concerto Theresia, under the direction of renowned conductors such as Vladimir Jurowski, Wolfgang Katschner, Dorothee Oberlinger, Tomáš Netopil, Andrea Marchiol and Andreas Reize.
Highlights of recent seasons have included the soprano solo in Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No. 4 at the Konzerthaus Berlin, “Martha” in the world premiere of Gordon Kampe’s “Dogville” at the Aalto Theater Essen, “Ruggiero” in Handel’s “Alcina” in a production by lautten compagney Berlin, and “Negiorea” in Andrea Bernasconi’s “L’Huomo” at the Margravial Opera House Bayreuth and at the Potsdam Sanssouci Music Festival. Other engagements have taken her to the Berlin Philharmony, the Berlin Music Festival, the George Enescu Festival in Bucharest, the Innsbruck Festival of Early Music, the Days of Early Music in Herne and the Mosel Music Festival.
Alice Lackner’s core concert repertoire includes the alto roles in cantatas and oratorios by J.S. Bach, Handel, Mozart and Mendelssohn. However, the mezzo-soprano’s repertoire also includes less frequently performed works such as the masses for the dead by Duruflé or Suppè, the “Membra Jesu Nostri” (Buxtehude) and “Der Sieg des Glaubens” (Ries). Recently, she has also appeared in concert as a soprano, for example in Mahler’s Symphony No. 4, in Mozart’s “Great Mass in C minor”, in Rossini’s “Petite Messe Solenelle” and in Stravinsky’s “Les Noces”.
A major focus of her work is lieder singing. In 2021, Alice Lackner released her debut CD “Ernsthaft?!” with the GENUIN label, together with her lied accompanist Imke Lichtwark. In addition to songs by Schönberg and Zemlinsky, this CD also includes first recordings of songs by the composer Sven Daigger. In October 2023, Alice Lackner recorded a first edition of all songs by George Antheil for Deutschlandfunk together with pianist Philip Mayers. Further recordings for cpo, BR-Klassik and ARTE Concert testify to her artistic work.
Alice Lackner was born in Munich, studied singing with Prof. Kunz-Eisenlohr at the HfMT Cologne/Aachen and is currently receiving further training from Sami Kustaloglu in Berlin. She holds a scholarship from the German National Academic Foundation and has won prizes from “cantatebach!”, the Rheinsberg Castle Chamber Opera, and the “Podium junger Gesangssolisten”. With a degree in sociology, she works as a researcher at ZOiS Berlin. From 2025 onwards, she will take over the artistic direction of the “Güldener Herbst” festival in Thuringia.

With around 60 concerts annually, numerous CDs and three Grammys, Rundfunkchor Berlin is one of the world’s foremost choruses. Its wide-ranging repertoire, flexible and richly nuanced sound, flawless precision and enthralling delivery have made it the chosen partner of the major orchestras and conductors in its home city but also internationally, where it functions as a musical ambassador for Berlin in the great concert halls of the world. It is so much more than just a concert and studio chorus.

Along with its symphonic choral central repertoire, Rundfunkchor Berlin is constantly forging new paths by means of projects that burst the bounds of the classical concert format and allow choral music to interact with other art forms. The choreographic realization of the Brahms Requiem as “human requiem” by Jochen Sandig with Sasha Waltz & Guests represents a milestone. Following acclaimed performances in Brussels, Taipei and Hong Kong, the work was performed during the 2016-17 season in Berlin, New York and South America. In Christian Jost’s LOVER, a music-theatre piece premiered in 2014 in Berlin’s Kraftwerk, Western symphonic choral music meets a traditional Asian percussion ensemble. In its most recent project, “cosmic lights”, in 2016, Rundfunkchor Berlin presented a multimedia programme based on celestial phenomena including the Northern Lights.

Rundfunkchor Berlin is constantly developing new and unusual ways of experiencing choral music and stimulating choruses all over the world to follow its lead. In formats such as the Sing-Along Concert in the Berlin Philharmonie, the Liederbörse (Song Exchange) for Berlin’s school choirs and the project Hand in Hand, it is working intensively with committed amateur choirs. With its International Master Class for choral conducting and the Academy and Schola for young singers, it is fostering the next generation of professionals. And to help make singing an intrinsic component of the primary school day, it created the initiative SING! in 2011.

Founded in 1925, the chorus celebrated its 90th anniversary in 2015. Since its inception, it has been shaped by conductors like Helmut Koch, Dietrich Knothe (1982-93), Robin Gritton (1994-2001) and Simon Halsey (2001-15). At the beginning of 2015-16 season, Gijs Leenaars assumed the position of Principal Conductor and Artistic Director. Simon Halsey retains his ties to Rundfunkchor Berlin as Conductor Laureate and Guest Conductor. Rundfunkchor Berlin is an ensemble of Rundfunk Orchester und Chöre GmbH Berlin and is sponsored by Deutschlandradio, the German Federal Republic, the state of Berlin and Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg.

In 2016/17 Benjamin Goodson took up his post as assistant of the principal conductor of the Rundfunkchor Berlin. Born in London in 1990 the British conductor studied music and musicology at the University of Oxford. Furthermore he studied conducting with renowned teachers and conductors like Sir Colin Davis, Paul Spicer and Ulrich Windfuhr.

In England he is the musical director of the award-winning Bath Camerata, which he took over in 2015. In the same year – by the age of 24 – he was named by the university to become Oxford’s youngest director of music, a position that he gave up for the Berlin engagement, while he still holds the position as chorus master at the Dorset Festival Opera. Moreover he is a regular guest conductor of various choirs and orchestras with a broad repertoire ranging from early music to contemporary works. In the season 2017/18 he worked with the, the MDR Rundfunkchor Leipzig, the NDR Chor Hamburg, the Netherlands Radio Choir and the London Symphony Chorus, which he prepared for a performance at the BBC Proms.

In the Rundfunkchor Berlin’s 2018/19 season Benjamin Goodson prepares the choir for several works such as Ralph Vaughan Williams’s “Sea Symphony” und Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No. 2. In 2020/21 he will become principal conductor of the Netherlands Radio Choir.